Your Essential One-Stop Guide to Robotic Lawn Mowers
Over the last few years, robotic mowers have created something of a revolution in lawn care. The beauty of these automated lawnmowers is that, once installed, they are capable of working completely autonomously to keep their designated area(s) of grass looking pristine. This gives them a huge advantage over more labour intensive conventional lawnmowers.
In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that this hassle-free way of cutting grass has made automower robots an absolute godsend for anyone with a large lawn, people with mobility issues, and those who find themselves too pressed for time to adequately maintain their gardens. And once you own an automatic lawn mower, there’s no need to worry about disposing of your grass cuttings either, because the automower chops them up into very fine pieces, which act as mulch on your lawn.
What’s more, as robotic mower technology continues to advance, it’s plain to see that they’re going to become even more popular with homeowners and businesses alike, ensuring they remain a permanent fixture in the nation’s gardens.
Our Automower Guide
Here, in our Automower Guide, we explain exactly how these robot grass cutters work. We then discuss the differences between those that use perimeter wires and virtual boundaries, before explaining the various other factors you’ll need to consider when choosing the right robotic automower for you. We’ll round things off by focusing on some of the best robot grass mowers to manage different types of lawn.
How Do Auto Lawn Mowers Work?
The method of setting up a robotic lawn mower varies slightly, depending on the type of machine. That said, generally speaking, it involves doing the following: installing the charging station, connecting the automower to the manufacturer’s app, showing it the lawn’s boundaries, and providing it with a mowing schedule.
Once this is done, should you wish, you can then monitor and control its operations via the app on your mobile device or, depending on the model, via the control panel on the actual machine. However, as a robotic lawn mower is an autonomous machine, it will go about its work without any real need for you to intervene. Even when its battery needs recharging, a grass robot mower can make its own way back to the charging station, so that it’s properly prepared for its next shift of work.
Naturally, you will still need to clean your automatic mower, and periodically maintain it, but in terms of day-to-day lawnmowing, no further action is required.
Perimeter Wires vs Virtual Boundaries
Arguably the biggest difference between robotic mowers is whether they use perimeter wires or virtual garden boundaries.
Wire-Guided Robotic Lawn Mowers
A wired robot mower navigates its way around a lawn using a combination of sensors and a perimeter wire. The former are to help it avoid obstacles, while the latter marks the outer limit of the automower’s working area.
When you purchase a wired robotic lawn mower, you will need to instal this perimeter wire*, which is usually buried just below the surface of the lawn. Once it is in place, your robot mower will never stray beyond it.
There are two main advantages to robot mowers that use a perimeter wire.
The first is that they tend to be cheaper. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re inferior; it’s simply that as the technology has been around for longer, its pricing has started to get more competitive.
Secondly, mowing lawn robots that use a perimeter wire aren’t completely reliant on GPS. This is a big plus if your garden contains lots of trees, taller buildings or other potential black spots, which might affect the signal.
(*Due to the nature of this work, we advise paying for professional installation.)
Robot Mowers Using Virtual Boundaries
These types of robotic lawn mower do not need a perimeter wire. Instead, they use a satellite navigation system, plus supporting technologies, to find their way around your garden.
The obvious advantage of this kind of automower robotic mower is that it’s far easier to instal. Typically, all you need to do before the first mowing session is use the manufacturer’s app to treat your robomow like a remote control lawn mower, by guiding it around the perimeter of your lawn. Then, once familiar with its working area, it’s free to operate autonomously.
This ease of installation isn’t just beneficial when you buy the robot mower. Should you redesign your garden or move home, it’s far simpler to adjust the automower’s settings to account for its new schedule of work.
And because of GPS’s powerful reach, this type of automatic grass mower tends to provide a superior finish on lawns with large reflective surfaces, particularly if they have more complicated designs. Being newer to market than wired automowers, they usually have higher all-round specifications too.
Other Factors to Consider
Once you’ve decided on whether to buy a wired auto grass mower or one that uses virtual boundaries, there are a few other factors you’ll need to weigh up. Along with the obvious considerations of price, brand and the capabilities of the manufacturer’s app, these should be determined by the type of lawn you need to mow.
Firstly, think about its size. If you are a homeowner with a modest lawn – about the size of a tennis court – an automatic lawn cutter designed to mow an area of 400 m2 will easily suffice. However, if you represent a local authority and need to maintain playing fields, you should choose a robotic lawn mower capable of managing lawns ranging from 5 – 10,000 m2.
Secondly, consider the lie of the land. If it’s flat, all well and good. But if the lawn is located on a steep incline or uneven terrain, you’ll need to make sure the automower is up to the job. You can find this information out on the individual mower’s product page of our website.
Also, do you need an automatic mower robot capable of mowing multiple areas? Is it likely to have to avoid obstacles while it’s mowing? And do you want a lawn mower automated to achieve a professional standard of finish? Again, you can find all this information out on the robotic lawn mowers’ individual product pages.
Our Range of Robotic Lawn Mowers
We sell robotic lawn mowers made by Honda, Husqvarna, Segway and STIHL, whom we consider to be the four best manufacturers of automatic lawn mower robots. All of these companies produce their own specific ranges of automated lawnmowers, with models available to meet the needs of different areas of the domestic and commercial markets. Naturally, the individual mowers’ capabilities and price tags reflect their respective target markets.
Honda’s robot mowers are branded Miimo, Husqvarna’s Automower®, Segway’s Navimow, and STIHL’s iMow®. Here is a small selection of the four companies’ offerings…
Honda Miimo HRM 40B Robotic Mower
This entry-level automower robot is powered by an 18v lithium-ion battery, which has a running time of up to 45 minutes. This makes it suitable for mowing smaller lawns, up to 400 m2 in size.
The robomow operates using a perimeter wire and inbuilt sensors, which prevent it bumping into any obstacles on your lawn. Completely weatherproof, it is capable of handling 15-degree inclines thanks to its excellent levels of traction.
Quiet when operating, this robotic lawn mower is supplied with an integral anti-theft device too. And should anyone lift it off the ground while it’s mowing, the blades will automatically stop as an added safety precaution.
Find out more about this grass robot mower here.
Husqvarna 310 Mark II Automower®
Suitable for mowing lawns up to 1,000 m2, this robot grass cutter also uses a perimeter wire. Once installed, it can be completely managed through Husqvarna’s excellent Automower® Connect app. This allows you to monitor the robomow’s performance, change its settings and access tips on lawncare.
The Automower® 310 Mk II is capable of mowing on 40-degree inclines and along narrow passageways, where it switches to its Systematic Mowing mode to minimise turns and wheel tracks. It also includes a frost guard and weather timer, so will adjust cutting times to suit the changing seasons and postpone its mowing schedule in the event of frost.
This robot grass mower features a Spiral Cutting mode too. This technology means its sensors can detect areas of higher grass, where it automatically switches to the Spiral Cutting function to even out the lawn’s height. And should your lawn be divided into separate areas; you can set up multiple mowing zones, each with their own schedule, then manually move the Automower® between them with minimal fuss.
Discover more about this robotic Automower® now.
STIHL RMI 632.1 PC iMow Robotic Mower
This robotic lawn mower can be completely controlled via STIHL’s superb iMow® app. Designed to be used within a perimeter wire, it comes with a range of impressive features that enable it to mow lawns up to 5,000 m2 in size to a very high level of precision.
Able to safely operate on uneven surfaces and gradients of up to 45%, this auto lawn mower has a cutting width of 28 cm. Its cutting height can be adjusted between 20 and 60 mm, so your lawn will be cut exactly how you like it. And with a sound power level of just 59 dB(A) when operating, this robot mower will never affect the peace and tranquility of your garden.
Thanks to its integrated rain sensor, the STIHL RMI 632.1 PC iMow Robotic Mower adjusts its schedule according to the prevailing weather conditions. And if its battery level runs low, the mower will return to its charging station to select either a swift or extended charge, based on its pre-set schedule.
Learn more about this mowing lawn robot here.
Segway Navimow X390E Robotic Mower
Expertly engineered for commercial use, this leading-edge robotic lawn mower only uses virtual boundaries, making it very easy to instal. It is designed to mow lawns up to 10,000 m2 to an extremely high standard. And thanks to the very latest Exact Fusion Location System (EFLS) 3.0 technology, this robot mower maintains its precise positioning and exceptional cutting accuracy, even in complex gardens with 
weak satellite signals.
Other high-specification features include an advanced Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) system, which boosts satellite observational capacity by up to 40%, while the upgraded VisionFence 2.0 technology provides an unprecedented 300-degree field of view. Together with AI-powered route planning, this allows the robot mower to avoid a huge range of obstacles, in real time, throughout its time at work.
The cutting system has been upgraded from previous Segway models too. Thanks to its razor-sharp blades and optimised speed, this market-leading robotic mower delivers a consistently even cut, without any patches. It even maintains its cutting precision on 50% inclines, so providing a pristine finish to every area of your lawn.
The Segway Navimow X390E Robotic Mower also comes with an integral display screen, providing real-time updates on its status and performance, although you can access the same information, and so much more, via Segway’s Navimow app. And thanks to its superfast charging time and ultra-efficient cutting, this robot grass cutter will mow your large lawn in half the time of the average robot mower.
Pre-order Segway’s latest robotic lawn mower now.
More Robot Mowers for Sale
Here, at Garden Machinery Direct, we have an extensive range of robotic lawn mowers for sale, designed to cater for every conceivable domestic or commercial lawn mowing requirement.
We also boast an unrivalled level of automatic grass mower expertise. So, if you’re considering buying a robotic mower, please get in touch with our Robotic Lawn Mower Experts, who will be delighted to talk you through your options.
